Diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) is one common chronic functional disease of the digestive system with limited treatments. The microbiota–gut–brain axis (MGBA) has a central function in the pathogeny of IBS-D, which includes the participation of many various factors, such as brain-gut peptides (BGPs), immune inflammation, and intestinal flora. Inspired by the drug combination in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), our previous study discovered that berberine (BBR) and baicalin (BA) could form natural self-assemblies as BA-BBR nanoparticles (BA-BBR NPs) and showed synergistic effects against IBS-D. Here, we investigated the synergistic effects of BA-BBR NPs on IBS-D model mice induced by chronic restraint stress plus Senna alexandrina Mill decoction with the influence on MGBA. BA-BBR NPs showed the best therapeutic effect on improving visceral hypersensitivity and diarrhea on IBS-D model mice, compared with BBR, BA, and BA/BBR mixture. Furthermore, BA-BBR NPs significantly ( P <0.05) reduced the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and choline acety transferase (CHAT) in colon tissues or of serum from BGPs; it lowered the expressions of the nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) in colon tissues and changed the levels of basophil granulocyte (BASO) and leukomonocyte (LYMPH) in whole blood from immune inflammation; it altered the intestinal flora of Bacteroidia, Deferribacteres, Verrucomicrobia, Candidatus_Saccharibacteria, and Cyanobacteria from intestinal flora. In conclusion, BA-BBR NPs, after forming the natural self-assembly between BBR and BA, promoted the synergistic effect on IBS-D mice than the sum of BBR and BA effects, based to the formation of self-assemblies rather than the simple mixing. It further proved that synergistic effect of BA-BBR NPs on IBS-D mice might be related to BGPs, immune inflammation, and intestinal flora from three important interrelated components of MGBA. This study will provide a novel idea for the interpretation of TCM compatibility theory and provide the basis for BA-BBR NPs as a medicinal plant-derived natural and efficient nanomaterial for clinical use.

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is a common micronutrient deficiency among pregnant women with severe consequences including impaired immuno-inflammatory system, premature birth, fetal death etc. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of three iron supplements on IDA female rats and their offspring. The IDA female rat model was established with low iron diet and the rats were then mated. After pregnancy, rats were fed diets containing different iron supplements (iron polysaccharide complex, iron protein succinylate and ferrous sulfate) until their offspring were 42 days old. Pregnancy outcomes, haematological, iron metabolism, physical and neurological development indexes were determined. The results showed that all three iron supplements improved the levels of hematological parameters of both mother and offspring rats. After iron supplementation, serum iron, transferrin saturation and serum ferritin levels were increased compared with the IDA group. The level of ferritin light chain in the liver and spleen of both mother and offspring rats in iron supplemented groups was significantly higher than that of the IDA group. The average number of born alive per litter in the iron treatment groups was significantly higher than that in the IDA group. Iron supplements also improved the physical growth and neurobehavioral development of offspring rats. It was also found that iron supplementation improved the expression of ferritin light chain and the synaptic growth associated proteins in the brain and hippocampus. No significant difference was found in the efficacy of three iron supplements. These results suggest that pregnant and postpartum IDA affects pregnancy outcomes, offspring physical development and causes neural impairment. Sufficient iron supplementation can significantly improve IDA and its adverse effects on both mother and offspring.

The health effects of diet are long term and persistent. Few cohort studies have investigated the influence of maternal dietary patterns during different gestational periods on offspring’s health outcomes. This study investigated the associations between maternal dietary patterns in the mid- and late-gestation and infant’s neurodevelopment at 1 year of age in the Jiangsu Birth Cohort (JBC) Study. A total of 1178 mother–child pairs were available for analysis. A semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to investigate dietary intake at 22–26 and 30–34 gestational weeks (GWs). Neurodevelopment of children aged 1 year old was assessed using Bayley-Ⅲ Screening Test. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Poisson regression were used to extract dietary patterns and to investigate the association between dietary patterns and infant neurodevelopment. After adjusting for potential confounders, the maternal ‘Aquatic products, Fresh vegetables and Homonemeae’ pattern in the second trimester was associated with a lower risk of being non-competent in cognitive and gross motor development, respectively (cognition: aRR = 0.84; 95% CI 0.74–0.94; gross motor: aRR = 0.80; 95% CI 0.71–0.91), and the similar pattern, ‘Aquatic products and Homonemeae’, in the third trimester also showed significant association with decreased risk of failing age-appreciate cognitive and receptive communication development (cognition: aRR = 0.89; 95% CI 0.80–0.98; receptive communication: aRR = 0.91; 95% CI 0.84–0.99). Notably, adherence to the dietary pattern with relatively high aquatic and homonemeae products in both trimesters demonstrated remarkable protective effects on child neurodevelopment with the risk of being non-competent in cognitive and gross motor development decreasing by 59% (95% CI 0.21–0.79) and 63% (95% CI 0.18–0.77), respectively. Our findings suggested that adherence to the ‘Aquatic products and Homonemeae’ dietary pattern during pregnancy may have optimal effects on offspring’s neurodevelopment.

Gouty arthritis (GA) is a multifactorial disease whose pathogenesis is utterly complex, and the current clinical treatment methods cannot wholly prevent GA development. Western medicine is the primary treatment strategy for gouty arthritis, but it owns an unfavorable prognosis. Therefore, the prevention and treatment of GA are essential. In China, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been adopted for GA prevention and treatment for thousands of years. Gout patients are usually treated with TCM according to their different conditions, and long-term results can be achieved by improving their physical condition. And TCM has been proved to be an effective method to treat gout in modern China. Nevertheless, the pharmacological mechanism of TCM for gout is still unclear, which limits its spread. The theory of prevention and treatment of gout with TCM is more well acknowledged in China than in abroad. In this article, Chinese herbs and ancient formula for gout were summarized first. A total of more than 570 studies published from 2004 to June 2021 in PubMed, Medline, CNKI, VIP, Web of Science databases and Chinese Pharmacopoeia and traditional Chinese books were searched; the current status of TCM in the treatment of GA was summarized from the following aspects: articular chondrocyte apoptosis inhibition, antioxidative stress response, inflammatory cytokine levels regulation, uric acid excretion promotion, immune function regulation, uric acid reduction, and intestinal flora improvement in subjects with gout. The literature review concluded that TCM has a specific curative effect on the prevention and treatment of GA, particularly when combined with modern medical approaches. However, lacking a uniform definition of GA syndrome differentiation and the support of evidence-based medicine in clinical practice have provoked considerable concern in previous studies, which needs to be addressed in future research.

Dietary pattern is excellent in reflecting an individual's eating conditions. Longitudinal data on fetal growth can reflect the process of intrauterine growth. We aimed to evaluate the associations between maternal dietary patterns and intrauterine parameters in middle and late pregnancy. The present study was conducted within Jiangsu Birth Cohort (JBC) study. Dietary information was assessed with a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in the second and third trimester of gestation. B-ultrasound scans were performed to obtain fetal intrauterine parameters, including head circumference (HC), femur length (FL), abdominal circumference (AC), and estimated fetal weight (EFW). Exploratory factor analysis was used to extract dietary patterns. Multiple linear regression and linear mixed-e ects model (LMM) were used to investigate the association between maternal dietary patterns and fetal growth. A total of , pregnant women were eligible for the study. We observed inverse associations of maternal "Vegetables and fish" and "Snack and less eggs" patterns during mid-pregnancy with fetal HC Z-score, respectively ("Vegetables and fish": β = − . , % CI − . , − . ; "Snack and less eggs": β = − . , % CI − . , − . ). On the contrary, "Animal internal organs, thallophyte and shellfish" pattern in the second trimester was associated with increased HC Z-scores (β = . , % CI . , . ). Consistently, score increase in "Vegetables and fish" pattern in the third trimester was inversely associated with the Z-scores of HC (β = − . , % CI − . , − . ), while "Meat and less nuts" pattern was positively correlated with the Z-scores of HC (β = . , % CI . , . ). As compared to the fetus whose mothers at the lowest tertile of "Snack and less eggs" pattern in both trimesters, those whose mothers at the highest tertile demonstrated . fold (RR = . , % CI . -. ) increased risk of small HC for gestational age (GA). No correlation was observed between maternal Frontiers in Nutrition frontiersin.org Qin et al. . /fnut. .dietary patterns and other intrauterine parameters. Our results suggested the e ects of maternal dietary patterns on fetal growth, particularly HC. These findings highlighted the adverse impact of unhealthy dietary pattern on fetal growth, might provide evidence for strategies to prevent intrauterine dysplasia and dietary guidelines during pregnancy.